CGTN Poll: Over 80% of respondents applaud China's contribution to Asia-Pacific integration

On the eve of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, CGTN surveyed respondents from 15 APEC member economies. The survey reveals that respondents positively assess APEC's role in promoting high-quality development among its member economies and highly commend China's vision and contributions in advancing inclusive economic globalization and integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the survey, 83.3 percent of respondents strongly recognize APEC as the highest-level, most extensive, and most influential economic cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region. In evaluating APEC's effectiveness in enhancing the development of its member economies, the top five areas of recognition, each with over 70 percent approval, are "promoting innovation and technological development in the Asia-Pacific," "coordinating positions and building consensus on major issues of global economic governance," "fostering cultural and people-to-people exchanges and interactions in the Asia-Pacific," "opposing unilateralism and protectionism while supporting the multilateral trading system," and "addressing global challenges."

The Asia-Pacific region, home to one-third of the world's population, accounts for over 60 percent of the global economy and nearly half of world trade. It is the most dynamic growth driver globally. In the survey, "advancing scientific and technological innovation cooperation," "promoting trade and investment liberalization," and "facilitating cross-border flow of personnel" ranked as the top three achievements in its regional integration. In addition, 83.2 percent of the respondents express confidence in the prospects of Asia-Pacific integration. Moreover, 87 percent of the respondents believe that countries in the Asia-Pacific region should take more active steps to promote scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, and jointly foster an open, fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory environment for scientific and technological development. Another 84.7 percent call on Asia-Pacific countries to adopt innovative ideas for development, pursue green development, and explore drivers for growth through innovation. Meanwhile, 86.9 percent believe that Asia-Pacific countries should pursue harmony between humans and nature and accelerate the transition to a green, low-carbon development model. Additionally, 84.6 percent point out that Asia-Pacific countries should uphold multilateralism and economic globalization and jointly build an open economy and regional cooperation framework.

As a major Asia-Pacific economy, China has always been an active participant in APEC cooperation and serves as both an engine and a propeller for regional collaboration in the Asia-Pacific. In the survey, 81.9 percent of respondents expressed their support of China's proposal to build an open, inclusive, innovation-driven, interconnected, and mutually beneficial Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. Meanwhile, 83.4 percent of respondents speak highly of China's remarkable contributions to advancing sustainable development within APEC, with "sharing development experience as a reference for other economies," "providing vast market opportunities for other economies," and "supporting the multilateral trading system" ranking as the top three areas of contribution. Respondents also expressed strong expectations for China's role in promoting the high-quality development of APEC, with "facilitating equitable trade and the digital economy," "advancing technological innovation and cooperation," and "safeguarding regional stability" topping the list of expectations.

The survey was jointly conducted by CGTN and Renmin University of China through the Institute of New Era International Communication, involving 4,048 respondents from 15 APEC member economies. The respondents are aged 18 to 65, and the sample aligns with the age and gender distributions of population censuses across various countries.